George Bancroft's chief reputation rests in his association with William H. Prescott, John Lothrop Motley, and Francis Parkman as members of the "Literary" or "Middle Historians," known for the grace of their writing and their pioneering scholarship. His contribution to American literary criticism lay in popularizing the principles of German philosophy, letters, historicism, and critical theory. His dedication to and knowledge of German scholarship began with his doctoral study at the University of Göttingen in 1818. In 1820 he successfully defended his dissertation, received his degree, and after the obligatory tour of Europe returned to Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1822 to briefly serve as a tutor in Greek at Harvard University. His first published article, "Schiller's Minor Poems" (1823), proved to be the beginning of a series of essays spanning the period from 1823 to 1831 which promoted the principles of German historical criticism. Within that period he also published a few articles...